The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-09

hsps one OF the greatest readers 10
public life, and not only 10 he . great
reader, hut an earnssT student as well.
Beside, keeping str a,t 4 current a.
fairs by me ans Of a large list Of new Z.
papers, be keep W, II nfrmed en- cur
rent liter tore, and "a vorac Gus s;u-
dent OF every rev work on fioancs.
He is a also q g'e, reader OF tie auto.
biographies of distinguished srstesmen
and finsncierp, and he live OF those
who O made stir 10 the world In
the library there is ip end d collec-
ton OF books OF this c. sracter.
But by lar tha most lot sting OF
the cont IA If the II "a y is the very
large lie iion Of u ogtsph 10 ters
from the ost dptiI gu'shsd m ia
America They date ok IF y yesrs
and mo esg,, when s. erman was tir-t
starting o II in hi' career. When sti !
q young mAn b, conceived the idea of
keeping every letter he received, and
the result of this determination ia that
he has a vast collection OF letters, GOV.
ering every period in the Republics
history fer the past quarter of CEN
tury. They are all carefully arranged
and classified. and by the aid OF a COM
prehensivs index, any one Ct them
can be found at q momeLts notice.
Should the Ohio Senator ever reach
the goal for which be Is recognized
sspirant, we may be sure these letters
will be OF use to him in paying off old
scores. But though he is the recipi-
ent OF 70 many tiers, be very rarely
writes one and seems to have taken to
himself, as rule, the old edage
"Never write letter and never de-
stToy one" If this ada 10 had been
adopted by many another Etatefman
what difference there might have
been in American history. 1t is a
question what will become of these
lettsis when Sherman dies. No doubt
many of them are of sensational in
terest, and fhould they b. published,
light msy b, thrown on soma facts
in our public history that would be
startling.
By far lhs most interesting of the
many letters would bs those which
have been exchanged bstween The
Senator aud his brother, The General.
The two brothers have always been
the best Of friends, and not the small-
est cloud of discord has ever come be-
tive en- them. And, by the way, it is
not generally known that the states.
man Narrowly escaped being tne SOL
der OF the family and vics vera The
father died when John was about 6
years old and the General very little
older. The family were in poor cir
cums,ances, and Thomas Ewing Of
fered to ADOPT one OF the boys, "the
smaitest and the best" as he expressed
it. A family council wss held, and it
was decided that "Cumpy," ss the
future soldier was called, shou' d be
the one. So the paths OF the two boys
diverged. John studied law and went
into politics.; his brother went to
West Point and became the general Of
the army. But to return to the letters,
The two brothers have correspondent
all their livee, and the Senator hes
every letter that the General ever
wrote him. There are Thousands
of them, pasted In four huge
volumes, and they contain a his
tory of the soldier brothers. life.
In these dsys when everything relating
TO the war is in such great demand,
what feast it would be to read these
letters. They are addressed from every
place under the sun. From school,
from West Point, from the plains
when he YVES simple lieutenant, then
during the great civil war, before great
movements, after bloody battles, from
headquarters, on a drum head, and
from every conceivable place and I'M
der every conceivable circumstance,
and they were written, not for the
public, but for his second self and
everything was told and nothing kept
back. No doubt one of these days they
will all be published, and certainly
they will form most interesting con.
tribution to the history Of the war.
The domestic lie aud personal hab-
its of the distinguished Senator are re-
msrksble for their regularity and
method. Nothing can be simpler than
his home life. AS We have said he is
another man in private life from what
he is in his public capacity. He arises
about s o'clock in the moroiDg and
Immediately has his breakfast. He
then reads the morning papers
and attends tn his personal cor
respo ndencs. By this time it is